REVIEWS

De-Evolution 7"

From Sleazegrinder.com: I feel pretty confident in the assertion that the boys in Portland’s The Anxieties have listened to “Blank Generation” a few hundred times. Which is cool, because I really really like Richard Hell; I also really really like this record. The vinyl is a lovely fluorescent green colour, for starters. And the band is pictured inside a television, and I like both television the set and Television the band, so that’s cool. Also cool is the way this record rocks in a scuzzy, slightly off-kilter 70’s punk way. Both original songs, “The De-Evolution Will Be Televised” and “Nowhere Zone,” while hearkening back to Hell on lyrical and musical (and probably even spiritual) levels, are pretty fucking great. (The Motorhead cover is also very good.) Some music is bad, and some music is good, and some music falls under the classification of “Holly-music,” which is indefinable in that I-know-it-when-I-hear-it-and-love-it way. The Anxieties definitely fall into the latter category. So don’t worry, boys, it’ll all work out, I promise…
- Holly

From Razorcake Magazine: Again, I can’t state enough how firmly I back anything on Plastic Idol. Buy it all! Buy it all now!! Here we’ve got three tracks from a band I’ve never heard of, yet it’s exactly what I want. If Smogtown sounded slightly more at home at a living room dance party than at the beach, you’d be pretty close to what’s here. Great stuff. –Megan Pants

From the Now Wave web-zine: With the possible exception of the Gary Glitter side project Oldman and the Pedophiles, I can't think of any band in history as fittingly-named as The Anxieties. The group's instant anthem "The De-Evolution Will Be Televised" is a frenzied, racing number that both critiques and reflects the anxiety-ridden times in which we live. There's a voice in my head that screams in despair over the 21st Century lifestyle and all it entails: our mass dependence on anti-depressants, our gross over-reliance on technology, the ever-increasing shallowness and stupidity of popular culture, and the public's vast apathy regarding all of the above. If that voice in my head could sing, he'd sound just like Anxieties howler Scott Von Rocket , who radiates the spastic panic of a man just dying to crawl out of his own skin. For the first time, really, he's got himself a band that perfectly fits his frantic vocal style (think David Byrne in "Psycho Killer" or Richard Hell in "Blank Generation", subjected to non-stop reality TV viewing via The Ludovico Method). And Plastic Idol Records now brings us the band's latest release. "The De-Evolution Will Be Televised" rushes along like a racecar on the speedway, promptly slamming into a wall before you think it should really be over. But it's great fun while it lasts - with its barnburner guitar riff, rapid-fire drumming, and vitriolic lyrics skewering a vapid, regressing culture. The chorus is delivered with such delirious, unrestrained force that it almost seems tuneless - yet it's one of the catchiest refrains I've heard all year! Clearly reminiscent of old L.A. punk yet also highly distinctive in its own right, this song is a refreshing change from the cookie-cutter drivel one usually hears from bands trying too hard to emulate the classic Cali sound. B-side opener "Nowhere Zone" is bouncy, rockin', and catchy as hell. If they had fantasy punk rock leagues the way they have fantasy baseball leagues, and you had members of The Dickies and X circa 1980 in your dream band, perhaps you'd end up with a song like this. I've been whistling its melody for days, and with every repeated spin, I must resist the temptation to pogo in my bedroom. Closing cut "Going To Brazil" is, of course, a Motorhead cover. Here The Anxieties let loose and rip into funtime rock n' roll mode, and they do so convincingly. Irresistible are the smokin', Billy Zoom esque guitar licks, which dominate the song with their energy and catchiness. And the band's overall treatment of the material is absolutely inspired - the singing and playing are top-notch and delivered with all kinds of gusto. You can tell that they love to play this one, and I can't help imagining the way people must go nuts when they bust it out live. You really have to like a band with the range to attempt blistering social commentary and hellraiser rock n' roll within the space of one single - and succeed completely at both. Bring on the LP!

From Maximum Rock'N'Roll #278: Taking in the ol’ school sounds of LA/Orange County, whilst still holding onto that distinctive Oregon sound. A nice mix of the WEIRDOS and the BRIEFS with a fine cover of MOTORHEAD’S “Going To Brazil” just to throw us off track. A nice little introduction, and hopefully just a taster for more to come. (Sean Dougan)

From the Dusted Magazine web-zine: Eugene, OR garage rockin’ punk, mad scientist-core for the paranoid and suspicious. “The De-Evolution Will Be Televised” isn’t quite the Weirdos send up the label might have you think, but it’s definitely serviceable, manic late ‘70s style punk rock, fists in pockets and ready to blow. As I listen to the B-side, my TV is on and Jennifer Rubin is getting stung to death by bees in “The Crush” and it’s a perfect visual, maybe adding more to the shouty, verbose punk-pop ricochet than there is, but I like it all the same. They finish up with a cover of Motorhead’s “Going to Brazil,” not really doing the original justice, but instead sapping its strength for the band’s own sinister purpose. Above average, and looking to improve with future releases. Too much singin’

Black Hole 7"

From Sleazegrinder.com web-zine: Straight outta Eugene (the city in Oregon, not the dude that owns the Sudsy Bubble on Mass Ave), the aptly-named Anxieties spew up three tracks worth of nervous spazz n’ roll that’s sorta like The Briefs and The Sleazies in lock-up together, trying to get their stories straight for the interrogation. It’s chugging 77 punk mixed with poppy-snot rock, and for two-minutes at a time, it’s the perfect prescription for the ailment it’s named after, because you can’t possibly be worried about George Bush or cancer or your lack of steady action when these pill-eaters are buzzing away on too-true tracks like “You’re Creeping Me Out” and “She Gets Me Drunk”. Fun stuff, and on bubble-gum colored pink vinyl too, so buy it and fucking hoard it, because when it’s on Killed By Death Volume 147 in 22 years, your gonna be so rich you can finally BUY yourself some steady action. And that’ll be nice.

From Razorcake Magazine: Fast punk rock that reminds me of a healthy mix of early Angry Samoans music and a less witty Rev. Nørb’s “(Do You Wanna) Grilled Cheese?” Boris the Sprinkler vocals. Eugene, Oregon would be the last place I would expect this sound to be pushing out from, but here it is. Other than a seven-song demo, this is their only release. This is a solid start. Tight and catchy. Now I only hope they can make it out of their crappy little college town so others can witness their rock. – Newtim

From the Terminal Boredom web-zine: This record is so punk that it should have a steamin' drunk photo of Coppens on the cover instead of the ubiquitous four band members leaning against a brick wall. The packaging and songs remind me of what Pelado was doing early on. Sorta. "Black Hole" and "You're Creeping Me Out" are similar to what would happen if you stripped the Sick Fits of their KBD/art privileges. Both are snappy, catchy…I like the area they're kicking about in.

From the Now Wave web-zine: From the first look at the color scheme and font on the cover, I figured these guys to be Briefs wannabes...While they're not wannabes, they definitely sound like a tougher, less cartoony Briefs. I hear an early LA punk influence...more like Adolescents than the Weirdos. "You're Creeping Me Out" is probably the best song on this record, pretty catchy little tune. I like it; it's the most memorable song on here.